Percy B. Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart. ... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal , these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
* * *
[ænˈtiːk] adj.
古时的
[ˈʃætə] vi.
粉碎,损坏
[ˈvizidʒ] n.
面貌,容貌
[ˈskʌlptə(r)] n.
雕刻家
[ˈpedistl] n.
基架,底座
[kəˈlɔsl] adj.
巨大的,庞大的
[stretʃ] v.
伸展,伸长
* * *
雪 莱
雪莱(Percy B. Shelley, 1792-1822),英国浪漫派重要诗人。早年受到启蒙思想的熏陶,一生痛恨封建压迫,追求民主。他的诗歌气概宏伟,画面波澜壮阔,一些作品富于政治思想,生动而深刻地反映了动荡不安的社会现实。同时,他将对社会的批判和对理想政治的追求溶于抒情性的自然图景之中,获得了很高的艺术性,如十四行诗《峨席曼迭斯》。雪莱的抒情诗优美、狂放,具有奇幻的意象,并富有深刻的哲理,极具寓意性和预言性,如传世的不朽名篇《寄西风之歌》、《致云雀》等。
我遇到一位来自古国的旅人,
他说:两根没身躯的石刻巨腿
站在瀚海里。沙土中,巨腿附近,
半陷着一具破损的脸型,那皱眉,
卷唇,和那睥睨一切的冷笑,
显出刻手们熟谙这类情绪,
把它们刻在石头上,传留到今朝,
它们的摹刻者、培育者却早已逝去:
在那底座上还出现了这些字迹:
“我就是峨席曼迭斯,万王之王——
天公呵,看我的勋业吧,叫你也绝望!”
巨型遗物外,只有空旷、岑寂;
废址的四周,一望无际,莽苍苍,
平沙漠漠,伸展向遥远的彼方。